Steven W. Quackenbush, Ph.D.

Advisor: Dr. Mark Barnett

Dissertation Title

Recollection and evaluation of critical experiences
in moral development: a cross-sectional examination

Dissertation Abstract

The central purpose of the present study was to
examine age differences in the characteristics of experiences that adolescents
and adults considered to have been critical in the development of their
personal values. A sample of 380 residents of Manhattan, Kansas (ages 15 to 83)
were asked to write an essay describing the single experience they regarded as
having been the "most important" in their moral development. In
addition, participants were asked to rate (a) the extent to which they learned
a variety of lessons from their cited experience, and (b) the extent to which
the recalled experience was perceived as "positive" and
"negative" (both "at the time of the experience" and
"looking back on it now").

Participants' written descriptions of their cited
"most important" experiences were reliably classified into 19
categories. In general, younger participants (ages 15 to 22) were more likely
than their older counterparts to cite experiences classified as
"drinking/drug use or abuse". Older participants (ages 65 to 83) were
more likely to cite experiences classified as "conversation with an
authority figure (other than legal guardian)".

With respect to participants responses on the
various "lessons learned" subscales, middle-aged and older adults
(ages 36 to 83) were more likely to report learning a lesson concerning
"social responsibility" than were their younger counterparts. This
finding is consistent with the notion that adults become increasingly concerned
with issues of "generativity" as they approach midlife. Age
differences were also observed in lessons learned concerning
"religion", "identity", "meaning",
"trust", "mistrust", "justice", and
"care". In addition, females were more likely to report learning
lessons concerning "religion", "identity",
"meaning", and "care" than were males.

With regard to the affective quality of the
recalled experience, participants generally considered the experience they
cited to have been more positive and less negative "looking back on it
now" than "at the time of the experience". Also, adolescents and
young adults (ages 15 to 35) reported that the episode they cited was more
negative and less positive than did middle-aged and older adults (ages 36 to
83).